Prep roundup: Colfax boys escape overtime to remain undefeated; defending state champ Colfax girls down LRS in semi

Last year, the Colfax girls team cruised through the regular season, district play and state to finish with a perfect record and a State 2B title. This year, the boys team is trying to duplicate the feat.

The Bulldogs entered their District 7 2B semifinal Wednesday at West Valley with a 22-0 record, averaging a 24.5-point margin of victory. Their closest game of the year, a two-point win on Jan. 16, came against their playoff opponent – Northwest Christian.

The Crusaders gave the Bulldogs – ranked No. 2 in 2B by the state media poll – all they wanted and more. But Colfax’s senior post came through at the foul line with the game in the balance in overtime.

Junior Jayce Kelly scored 32 points, 6-foot-9 JP Wigen hit 5 of 6 at the line in overtime and the Bulldogs escaped with a 76-70 win – and their unbeaten streak intact.

Colfax (23-0) faces St. George’s in the district title game Saturday at 5 p.m. NWC (14-8) falls into the third-place bracket on Friday.

NWC guard Avi West almost single-handedly willed the Crusaders to overtime, scoring 17 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter.

Wigen, who missed practice last week with the flu and lost 12 pounds, finished with 13 points.

“It just felt like every day in practice,” Wigen said of the late free throws. “I mean, we shoot 20-30 every day, so just kind of muscle memory at that point. It’s just fun to be out here in front of all the fans and get that moment. I’ve been dreaming of it since I was like 4. So to get to finally do that, it’s been special.”

“He’s a leader for us,” Colfax coach Reece Jenkin said of Wigen. “He has a lot of guts and just found a way to get it done. He made some big free throws down the stretch and got a couple of big rebounds. Just super proud of our guys.”

Wigen said it’s no secret why NWC played them so tough – twice.

“They came out and battled. They had a pretty good plan defensively and they matched up pretty well. They’re athletic all around and they came out competed hard.”

Colfax led by 14 at the half and slowly watched the lead dwindle. It led by eight entering the fourth, and that’s when West exploded. Nursing a wrist injury, the 6-foot guard sliced, diced and twisted his way to 17 points in the period, culminated by a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie it at 65 and force overtime.

West started overtime with a contested, scooping layup, but Kelly responded with a 3 and a pair of free throws. Wigen made 5 of 6 at the line – all coming off defensive rebounds – and the Bulldogs kept their streak going.

“To be honest, (undefeated) is not something that we talk about at all,” Jenkin said. “Everything is kind of just about the next game and what we have to do. … That’s never been a goal of ours.”

Kelly scored 25 points in the second half and overtime for the Bulldogs, including four of his five 3-pointers.

“He made some huge plays in the second half, really for the whole game, to kind of carry us a little bit when some of our guy other guys weren’t there,” Jenkin said.

Kelly got hot at the start of the third quarter with back-to-back makes from beyond the arc, but NWC’s 6-7 post Ben Slade scored on three consecutive trips to trim the deficit to nine. Joe Spuler hit a 3 late and NWC trailed 50-42 entering the fourth.

Adrik Jenkin (13 points) hit a long 3 to push it back to double digits, and Wigen scored in the paint to put Colfax up 12 with 5 minutes to go. NWC didn’t roll over, and West’s third layup of the quarter made it a seven-point game with 2:18 to go.

West kept scoring in the paint, then Kelly made a pair at the line with 8 seconds to go to make it a three-point game. That just gave West the opportunity to rush up court and drain a long 3 to send it to overtime.

“Give credit to Northwest Christian – those guys don’t give up,” Jenkin said. “They’re super tough.”

Boys

St. George’s 73, Liberty 68: Elden Pierce and Shawn Jones scored 24 points apiece and the Dragons (19-5) topped the Lancers (11-12) in a semifinal.

Jack Wilson scored 20 points and Lincoln Foland had 19 points for Liberty, which faces Davenport in an elimination game Friday.

Davenport 62, Lind-Ritzville/Sprague 56: Jaeger Jacobsen scored 24 points and the Gorillas (10-13) eliminated the visiting Broncos (9-13). Shawn Steinberger scored 20 points for LRS.

Girls

Colfax 62, Lind-Ritzville/Sprague 41: Hailey Demler scored 27 points, Brynn McGaughy added 17 and the Bulldogs (19-4) beat the Broncos (12-10) in a semifinal. Colfax faces Davenport in the district title game Saturday.

The Bulldogs led by five at halftime and used a 7-0 run to open up a double-digit lead. Demler hit a long 3 with 2 minutes left in the third to stretch the lead to 20.

Zoe Galbreath scored 22 points for LRS, which faces Liberty in an elimination game Friday.

Davenport 49, Reardan 38: Jensyn Jacobsen scored 17 points, Glenna Soliday added 12 and the Gorillas (14-8) beat the Screaming Eagles (16-7) in a semifinal. Tenice Waters scored 15 points for Reardan, which faces Northwest Christian in an elimination game Friday.

Liberty 60, St. George’s 34: Tyla Tiegs scored 18 points, Kendall Denny added 17 and the Lancers (16-6) eliminated the Dragons (6-18), who were led by Henri Osborne with 13 points.

Northwest Christian 67, Kettle Falls 56: Georgia Crockett scored 24 points, Macy Shamblin added 15 and the Crusaders (13-8) eliminated the Bulldogs (9-11), who were led by Ella Johnson with 18 points.

District 7 1B Boys

Cusick 62, Springdale 55: Bode Seymour scored 31 points and the Panthers (18-2) defeated the visiting Chargers (12-9) in a quarterfinal. Teko Cates scored 18 points for the Chargers. Cusick faces Inchelium in a semifinal on Saturday at Deer Park HS.

Inchelium 56, Wilbur-Creston-Keller 55: Dakatta Seymour scored 23 points and the visiting Hornets (12-7) beat the Wildcats (11-6) in a quarterfinal. Kallen Maioho led WCK with 18 points.

Almira/Coulee-Hartline 65, Northport 63: Josh Booker scored 20 points and the visiting Warriors (11-10) edged the Mustangs (12-8) in a quarterfinal. Joey Beardslee scored 20 points for Northport. ACH advances to a semifinal on Saturday at Deer Park HS.